Meaning of Narcotics
drugs
An addictive drug which affects mood and
behaviour which induces drowsiness, stupor or insensibility and relieves pain
and makes habitual intake psychologically.
The Law
Narcotic Drugs and
Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (Click Here) which is commonly known as the NDPS act. It
is an act in which the Parliament of India prohibits a person to produce,
possess, sell, purchase, transport, store and consume any narcotic drug or
psychotropic substance. NDPS bill, 1985 was introduced in Lok
Sabha on 23rd August 1985. The President Gianni Zail
Singh gave the assent and this was passed by both Houses of Parliament on 16th
September 1985, it came into action on 14th November 1985. This
act has been amended thrice in 1988, 2001 and 2014. The act extended to the
whole of India and it applies to all the Indian citizens outside India to
all persons on ships and aircraft registered in India. Narcotics Control
Bureau was set up on March 1986. The act was designed to fulfil India’s
Treaty obligation under:
- Single convention on Narcotic Drugs
- Convention on Psychotropic Substances
- United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance.
Background
Earlier there was no legislation regarding
narcotics in India until 1985. Cannabis smoking has been known since 2000 BC.
It was first mentioned in Atharvaveda. Indian Hemp drug commission and Indo-British
study of cannabis usage in India appointed in 1893, found that the use of
this drug in moderate quantity is not practically attended by no evil results
at all. It does not produce any injurious effect on the mind and no moral injury.
Cannabis and its derivatives were legally sold in India until 1985. Ganja
and Charas were considered by upper class Indians as the poor class
intoxicant, although the rich consume Bhang during Holi. The United
States began to campaign worldwide law against all drugs. Adoption of the Single
Convention on Narcotic Drugs in 1961. However, India withstood with
American pressure to make cannabis illegal for nearly 25 years, the American
pressure increase in the 1980s and in 1985. Rajiv Gandhi’s Government succumbed
and enacted the NDPS Act, banning all narcotic drugs in India.
Punishments
- The contravention involves a small quantity, with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extended to 1 year, or with a fine which may extended to 10,000 or both
- The contravention involves a commercial quantity greater than small quantity, with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to 10 years and with fine which may extend to Rs. 1 lakh.
- The contravention involves a commercial quantity with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than 10 years but may extend to 20 years and also a fine which shall not be less than Rs. 1 lakh and can extend to Rs. 2 lakh.
The table below lists the current definition of a small quantity
and a commercial quantity for some popular drugs.
Drug
|
Small quantity
|
Commercial quantity
|
2 grams
(0.071 oz)
|
50 grams
(1.8 oz)
|
|
100 grams
(3.5 oz)
|
1 kilogram
(2.2 lb)
|
|
2 grams
(0.071 oz)
|
100 grams
(3.5 oz)
|
|
1 kilogram
(2.2 lb)
|
20 kilograms
(44 lb)
|
|
5 grams
(0.18 oz)
|
250 grams
(8.8 oz)
|
|
2 milligrams
(0.031 gr)
|
100 milligrams
(1.5 gr)
|
|
2 grams
(0.071 oz)
|
50 grams
(1.8 oz)
|
|
5 grams
(0.18 oz)
|
250 grams
(8.8 oz)
|
|
25 grams
(0.88 oz)
|
2.5 kilograms
(5.5 lb)
|
Advantage
It is used mainly for pain relief, and hence
they are also known as narcotic analgesics. Best narcotics are Opiates compounds
found or derived from opium. Opium is obtained as the dried milky juice of seed
pods of the opium poppy. Drugs with actions similar to morphine that is
produced synthetically are known as opioids.
The invention of Hypodermic Needle in
the mid 19th century allowed morphine to be administered by
injection, through injection it has more effect than taking it orally. However,
the availability of morphine injections led to the serious problem of abuse, and
laws were introduced to control the use, production, trade of narcotics and
other dangerous drugs. In 1898 Heroine or Diacetylmorphine, was
developed from morphine by Bayer Company in Germany. Heroine is 5-10
times as potent as morphine itself and is used by more narcotic addicts.
Most effective theory for narcotic addicts
involves the synthetic opiate Methadone, which itself is addictive,
blocks the addict’s craving for heroin and provide no disruptive euphoric
effects of its own.
Medically narcotics are the most powerful
painkillers available, but they are used with great cautions because of their
addictive properties. It not only reduce pain but also seems to reduce
suffering, fear and panic. As terminal cancer patient often do not have long to
live and the provision of acceptance quality of life maybe paramount issue.
Disadvantages
l They cannot eliminate
the pain. They have the side effects of possibly causing nausea, vomiting,
itchiness and/or constipation.
Why it should be
Decriminalize?
The law should treat a drug addict as a patient,
not as criminals. Heroin replaced opium, cocaine replaced cannabis, and so on.
As the drug business involves huge profit, it is creating more rivals and
starting gang wars, it promotes ruthless and aggressive marketing, thus pushing
more and more people into the drug world. Consequently, the petty traditional drug
users are turning to the easily available and aggressively marketed more
addictive and dangerous street drugs.
In some of the developed country like the USA, the
Marijuana has been legalized, which ultimately results in less drug abuse. The
possibility of same may be explored in India. Marijuana should be legalized for medical use especially for the purpose of cancer.
Earlier USA was the country which has started
the War Against Drug and now out of 50 states 29 has legalize marijuana
for medical use. This has led to increased revenues, reduced crime rates,
lesser drug-related arrest.
Criticism
While the world,
from Coca-Cola to Corona, appropriates our tropical plant and basically bhang,
making billions in the process, we have no political, moral and judicial stand
on it. We have given up all claims on what was our own for millennia. Instead,
we have decided to channel our energies into cow-dung soap and cow urine
shampoo, now available on Amazon, but unlikely to spawn a global market like
Cannabis Indica. Looks like the sleeping giant will continue to sleep, at least
in India.
As always in India, once a ban is put in place, it stays in place. There
is no rolling back, even as the countries originally responsible for these bans
evolve, revoke and move forward. (The war on drugs, meanwhile, after
squandering billions of dollars and taking hundreds of thousands of lives, is
widely considered a failure.) The benefits of marijuana are many. It’s a sleep
aid, appetite enhancer, anxiety and pain reliever. It has brought immense
relief to the terminally ill. It’s also a muscle relaxant, aiding and speeding
recovery from body-breaking fevers like chikungunya. (I can vouch for this from
experience.) And as more legal research is done into it, more medically proven
benefits are bound to surface. Bharat was always aware of it. Our sadhus and
gods smoked it. No Mahashivratri is complete without a good chillam and no Holi
is completed without drinking bhang.
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